Americans observe moment of silence for Arizona victims

From the White House to outer space to the City Coffee Shop in Camden, Americans paid homage to the victims of last weekend's shootings in Tucson, Ariz., by halting the buzz and motion of their day for a moment of silence at 11 a.m. Monday.

On the White House South Lawn, President Obama and his wife, Michelle, presided over a national moment to pray and reflect on the event.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D., Ariz.) was wounded and six people were killed Saturday, including a federal judge and 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green, granddaughter of former Phillies manager Dallas Green.

Hovering above the planet as the president stood quiet, space station commander Scott Kelly led NASA in a moment of silence. Kelly's identical twin, Mark, is Giffords' husband. Both brothers are astronauts.

"We are constantly reminded of the . . . damage we can inflict upon one another," Kelly said, adding: "We're better than this."

Hundreds of congressional aides stood on the east steps of the Capitol, heads down in silence. At the Supreme Court, the justices paused to reflect between two cases they were hearing Monday morning.

At the City Coffee Shop, on Market Street in Camden, customers paused as CNN broadcast the moment of silence.

Tisheena Jackson, 35, of Sicklerville, bowed her head and quietly murmured, "Oh, my God." She wiped tears from her face as others shook their heads while pictures of the victims appeared.

"Just being an American, I hate to see something like this happen," Jackson said.

Nearby, Asia-Marie Adames, 29, held her 2-month-old son, Joshua, while her 5-year-old daughter, Jomarys, stared at the television.

"My sister went to serve in Iraq after 9/11 and fought to stop this," Adames said. "It affects all of us when there are acts of terrorism. It never ends."

That was a lesson freshly learned Monday morning in teacher Cathy Fox's Algebra 2 class on the second floor of Franklin Learning Center in Spring Garden.

There, about 30 uniformed 11th graders in khaki pants and black shirts joined in the national silence, somberly keeping vigil for about three minutes, some with their eyes closed.

Afterward, principal Charles Staniskis explained the meaning of the moment: "What you have done today is join in with the rest of the nation in sharing the sorrow and the mourning."

At the same time, in ornate Courtroom 1 in the Bucks County Courthouse, Judge Rea B. Boylan was plowing through her docket.

After sentencing a young drug defendant to 11 1/2 months in the county prison, Boylan allowed Deputy District Attorney Daniel Sweeney to address the court.

"Your Honor," Sweeney said, "It's 11 a.m. The commonwealth requests that we observe a moment of silence for the victims in Arizona."

Boylan concurred. The room fell silent, with most heads bowed. The only noise was the sniffling of the drug defendant's weeping mother.

Afterward, Sweeney said he made the request "just to remember the victims of the shooting . . . especially given the fact that there was a victim with a local connection."

Christina Green was also on the minds of those waiting for service at the Gladwyne post office.

Standing in line was Herberta Ashburn, 81, widow of Phillies legend Richie Ashburn. She called the situation "horrible" and said she planned to write a note to Dallas Green.

Across the river at the Marlton Diner, a hush came over the Monday morning regulars when TV news broadcast that the silence had commenced. The waitresses stopped pouring coffee, the regulars lowered their voices.

To retired firefighter William Miller, the shooting was yet another sad chapter for a country that he feels has gone off the tracks in the last decade.

"A lot of people are getting killed and shot up for nothing," he said. "Politics," he spat after a moment, as if it were a slur.

Joe Druding, a retired engineer, said he thought the suspect was disturbed and it was thus unnecessary to ponder what the tragedy says about our country.

"He was a deviant," Druding said. "Hang the bastard."

The rhetoric was gentler among the second graders in the computer class at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Maple Shade.

The 20 children, ages 7 and 8, quietly clasped their hands together and bowed their heads.

"Our children should be aware of everything happening in the world," said Sister William Evelyn.

Monday's commemorative moment went largely unnoticed at the Delaware County Courthouse and Government Center.

County government spokeswoman Trish Cofiell said the County Council would have a moment of silence for the victims at its meeting Tuesday.

Similarly, at the King of Prussia mall, shoppers perused sales racks as 11 a.m. came and went.

"I certainly would have wanted to observe it," said David Brubaker, 72, of Sinking Spring, Pa.

At the Montgomery County Courthouse, Kathy Veasey, a scanning clerk for the jury board, put her head down as if praying and had her own moment of silence.

"It's tragic that people can get that disturbed and ill-feelinged," she said afterward. "The respect for life is just not there. That bothers me more than anything. I feel so sad."